Posted by Chinenye on Thu 20th Aug, 2026 - tori.ng
Queen Camilla has spoken publicly about the emotional strain of keeping King Charles health diagnosis private while attending the Ebor Festival in York.
(Queen Camilla. Photo by Mirror)
Queen Camilla attended the Ebor Festival at York Racecourse despite heavy rain, arriving during a downpour.
She was introduced as the most welcome visitor at the event.
The royal, who became patron of the course in 2024, wore a blue feathered hat, a blue dress and a Jockey Club brooch.
She met retiring jockey Joe Fanning, who recovered from prostate cancer at the end of last year.
During their conversation, she spoke for the first time publicly about how difficult it was keeping the King's cancer diagnosis secret before it was announced to the public.
She also met staff members and representatives from local charities and community organisations supporting the area.
Fanning, 55, was given a special honour after announcing his retirement last month after nearly 40 years as a jockey.
His career was interrupted when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but he had surgery earlier this year and recovered well.
He said the Queen mentioned that some of her own horses would race at the course later in the week and described her as friendly.
The Queen watched the RAF Falcons parachute display team perform and took a salute.
She later presented the trophy to the winner of one of the world's top middle-distance races.
Her visit coincided with the release of a short film where she opened up about the emotional strain of keeping the King's health diagnosis private.